The Artful Dodger wrote:Perhaps if the government instituted price fixing. As far as I know, Japan has some measure of limiting public and private hospitals to charge only X amount for specific procedures and treatments. Again, it's a matter of scalability and that probably won't work here as well as universal healthcare. People in the States generally aren't gung ho about paying higher taxes or a fixed rate for extensive healthcare, like in most European countries.
I'd support the government fixing the rates and putting caps on what can be charged.
no you don't. you think you do, because of your recent experiences, but caps are never a good thing. In this case they'll end up in government subsidizing even more, and they'll hinder research.
wrveres wrote:no you don't. you think you do, because of your recent experiences, but caps are never a good thing. In this case they'll end up in government subsidizing even more, and they'll hinder research.
Research is great, but it shouldn't be paid for in this fashion. $13,500 for a checkup? $18,000 for a broken bone? It's beyond absurd. If the hospitals are going to continue to act like financial rapists, then I fully support the government slapping them back into reality using a rusty barb-wire covered baseball bat to get the point across.
Yes doctor, I am sick. Sick of those who are spineless. Sick of those who feel self-entitled. Sick of those who are hypocrites. Yes doctor, an army is forming. Yes doctor, there will be a war. Yes doctor, there will be blood.....
wrveres wrote:no you don't. you think you do, because of your recent experiences, but caps are never a good thing. In this case they'll end up in government subsidizing even more, and they'll hinder research.
Research is great, but it shouldn't be paid for in this fashion. $13,500 for a checkup? $18,000 for a broken bone? It's beyond absurd. If the hospitals are going to continue to act like financial rapists, then I fully support the government slapping them back into reality using a rusty barb-wire covered baseball bat to get the point across.
I don't know a ton about this, so this is a real question. Where is this money going? Into whose pocket? I mean doctors are paid well (and they ought to be), but I don't think that's where these ridiculous prices are winding up; in their pockets. Obviously some of it goes to pay for the expensive machines they use, but it's not like nurses are raking in cash or anything like that -- they're paid pretty modestly in the area I live in -- they can have nice careers but their salaries certainly what are driving these prices. So who is pocketing this??
wrveres wrote:no you don't. you think you do, because of your recent experiences, but caps are never a good thing. In this case they'll end up in government subsidizing even more, and they'll hinder research.
Research is great, but it shouldn't be paid for in this fashion. $13,500 for a checkup? $18,000 for a broken bone? It's beyond absurd. If the hospitals are going to continue to act like financial rapists, then I fully support the government slapping them back into reality using a rusty barb-wire covered baseball bat to get the point across.
I don't know a ton about this, so this is a real question. Where is this money going? Into whose pocket? I mean doctors are paid well (and they ought to be), but I don't think that's where these ridiculous prices are winding up; in their pockets. Obviously some of it goes to pay for the expensive machines they use, but it's not like nurses are raking in cash or anything like that -- they're paid pretty modestly in the area I live in -- they can have nice careers but their salaries certainly what are driving these prices. So who is pocketing this??
I think technology (or the lack thereof to afford it) plays a role in the big costs. Say, you had to get an MRI in the States, it'll cost you a good chunk of change. If you went to a country like Japan, where more offices/hospitals are equipped with a top draw MRI scanner, the costs to pay for insurance and patient are lesser. The process of getting a bone marrow sample examined alone is expensive, especially when it has to be shipped to a lab and the results have to wait for about 2-3 weeks amongst a backlog of tests.
wrveres wrote:no you don't. you think you do, because of your recent experiences, but caps are never a good thing. In this case they'll end up in government subsidizing even more, and they'll hinder research.
Research is great, but it shouldn't be paid for in this fashion. $13,500 for a checkup? $18,000 for a broken bone? It's beyond absurd. If the hospitals are going to continue to act like financial rapists, then I fully support the government slapping them back into reality using a rusty barb-wire covered baseball bat to get the point across.
I don't know a ton about this, so this is a real question. Where is this money going? Into whose pocket? I mean doctors are paid well (and they ought to be), but I don't think that's where these ridiculous prices are winding up; in their pockets. Obviously some of it goes to pay for the expensive machines they use, but it's not like nurses are raking in cash or anything like that -- they're paid pretty modestly in the area I live in -- they can have nice careers but their salaries certainly what are driving these prices. So who is pocketing this??
wrveres wrote:no you don't. you think you do, because of your recent experiences, but caps are never a good thing. In this case they'll end up in government subsidizing even more, and they'll hinder research.
Research is great, but it shouldn't be paid for in this fashion. $13,500 for a checkup? $18,000 for a broken bone? It's beyond absurd. If the hospitals are going to continue to act like financial rapists, then I fully support the government slapping them back into reality using a rusty barb-wire covered baseball bat to get the point across.
I don't know a ton about this, so this is a real question. Where is this money going? Into whose pocket? I mean doctors are paid well (and they ought to be), but I don't think that's where these ridiculous prices are winding up; in their pockets. Obviously some of it goes to pay for the expensive machines they use, but it's not like nurses are raking in cash or anything like that -- they're paid pretty modestly in the area I live in -- they can have nice careers but their salaries certainly what are driving these prices. So who is pocketing this??
I'm no expert of course, but from my reading last year, there is a ton that goes into this. Emergency rooms must keep a larger staff on hand at all times, as they never know what is coming through that door. The ER also practices extreme defensive medicine as they are the most likely to be sued. Thats why in Mad's case they did the cat scan and notified a trauma team. Another thing is emergency rooms are a specialty service. If you call a 24 hour plumber at 3 am on a Sunday, you pay more. He does the same thing obviously. Ever had your car towed on a weekend? its twice as expensive. Also lets not forget that they are attempting to recoup losses from the uninsured, and then you also have about 10% of that cost in malpractice insurance. Its not one small thing.
wrveres wrote:I'm no expert of course, but from my reading last year, there is a ton that goes into this. Emergency rooms must keep a larger staff on hand at all times, as they never know what is coming through that door. The ER also practices extreme defensive medicine as they are the most likely to be sued. Thats why in Mad's case they did the cat scan and notified a trauma team. Another thing is emergency rooms are a specialty service. If you call a 24 hour plumber at 3 am on a Sunday, you pay more. He does the same thing obviously. Ever had your car towed on a weekend? its twice as expensive. Also lets not forget that they are attempting to recoup losses from the uninsured, and then you also have about 10% of that cost in malpractice insurance. Its not one small thing.
The hospital was already open though, that's a little different than calling a plumber out of bed at 3 AM. A comparable situation would be Wal-Mart charging 10X what a reasonable price is, but only during certain hours of the day (during the rush or overnight). Doesn't make any sense.
As to the CT, all they had to do was have my wife sign a release. She refused the CT several times until finally letting them do it so they could leave.
I'm not completely unreasonable of course, I understand hospitals have additional bills and things we don't generally think about. I mean I did pay every cent of the $16K+ for my appendectomy even though I felt it was robbery. $13,500 for a checkup though? That's just stupid and you'd think they wouldn't be dumb enough to go that crazy with the overbilling. Especially right now with so many people starting to take matters into their own hands. They are playing Russian Roulette and they will lose the game soon enough.
Yes doctor, I am sick. Sick of those who are spineless. Sick of those who feel self-entitled. Sick of those who are hypocrites. Yes doctor, an army is forming. Yes doctor, there will be a war. Yes doctor, there will be blood.....
wrveres wrote:I'm no expert of course, but from my reading last year, there is a ton that goes into this. Emergency rooms must keep a larger staff on hand at all times, as they never know what is coming through that door. The ER also practices extreme defensive medicine as they are the most likely to be sued. Thats why in Mad's case they did the cat scan and notified a trauma team. Another thing is emergency rooms are a specialty service. If you call a 24 hour plumber at 3 am on a Sunday, you pay more. He does the same thing obviously. Ever had your car towed on a weekend? its twice as expensive. Also lets not forget that they are attempting to recoup losses from the uninsured, and then you also have about 10% of that cost in malpractice insurance. Its not one small thing.
The hospital was already open though, that's a little different than calling a plumber out of bed at 3 AM. A comparable situation would be Wal-Mart charging 10X what a reasonable price is, but only during certain hours of the day (during the rush or overnight). Doesn't make any sense.
As to the CT, all they had to do was have my wife sign a release. She refused the CT several times until finally letting them do it so they could leave.
I'm not completely unreasonable of course, I understand hospitals have additional bills and things we don't generally think about. I mean I did pay every cent of the $16K+ for my appendectomy even though I felt it was robbery. $13,500 for a checkup though? That's just stupid and you'd think they wouldn't be dumb enough to go that crazy with the overbilling. Especially right now with so many people starting to take matters into their own hands. They are playing Russian Roulette and they will lose the game soon enough.
Honestly, I think the biggest problem here is that no one is ever notified of costs until after. I wholly support the efforts by some very local politicians to push for 'menus' that show the prices of fairly common events. I know that in the heat of the moment, some things need to be done, but in cases like this, a little brochure with the expected cost of a scan would have gone a long way to preventing all of this hullabaloo.
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by wrveres » Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:54 pm 
![:-]](./images/smilies/smirk.gif "Scottie")
